In the medical field, blood vessels of a patient are often accessed for the purpose of drawing samples of blood, administering medicine through an IV inserted in a vein, inserting a catheter, etc. In order to access the blood vessels, medical professionals usually locate blood vessels by simply inspecting the surface of the skin of the patient under normal lights. Unfortunately, many attempts may be required to properly insert a needle or other instrument into blood vessels in this manner, which can cause unnecessary discomfort, and even sometimes pain, for the patient.
Some solutions have been proposed to assist medical professionals to locate a blood vessel under the skin of a patient. One device, referred to as a vein locator, uses an imagining technique to locate veins. The device then projects an image representing the veins on the outside surface of the subject's skin. However, this device is very expensive and is rather bulky. Another solution includes emitting an infrared light on the surface of the skin. The light in this device is reflected by the tissues, but absorbed by the blood vessels. By illuminating the skin in this way, the blood vessels can be more easily detected. Although these and other devices and solutions have assisted medical professionals to better locate blood vessels, further development is this regard can still be made, particularly to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art with respect to cost and portability.